AI, surgeries galore, Air Preheater, and the Ides of March
By Chuck Wiser, I write the words to share what my eyes see and my heart feels
This week has been one of wonder. I wonder how I made it through this week. I wonder why my sleeping habits are so messed up. I wonder what the readers reaction will be if I write about a topic that has been bubbling in my mind for several weeks now. I wonder what Artificial Intelligence (AI) will think I want to say next and superimpose the next word or string of words to complete my or their thought. I guess I must be a “wonderling” tonight.
Having thought the word and wondering if mayhaps I had created another new word, I entrusted the search engine of choice to give me a hint. At the first attempts, it kept insisting that I meant “wondering.” After finally convincing it that I was serious, Google Search provided the following history: The earliest known use of the noun wonderling is in the mid 1600s. The earliest evidence for wonderling is from 1658, in the writing of William Gurnall, Church of England clergyman. wonderling is formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: “wonder, a noun combined with ‑ling as a suffix.
That still didn’t give me the definition that I thought was intuitive. Upon trying another source I finally got the answer I was looking for, with the definition being that “wonderling” meant: “ to feel curiosity or doubt; wondering about the future; transitive verb; to be curious or in doubt.”
If you missed my former explanation of what “mayhaps” meant, it should be so obvious or intuitive that you can figure it out and it shouldn’t need further explanation. Just add it to the list of Wiser’s Words that make you wonder.
I apologize for that weak introductory topic but I’m writing this in the wee hours and “you gets what you get…or pay for and I work cheap.
I have been enduring a significant medical issue since late August and the surgeons are going to finally do something about it next Wednesday at Arnot Ogden Medical Center. That was not my venue of choice as I am, and all of my data is, tied up in the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) system. However, I want the surgeon to be at his best so I want him to be in familiar surroundings. This past week has been an adventure, as my Healthcare Insurance got tied up in the recent rates increases of the Medicare System. Ever since I became Medicare eligible my healthcare insurance has been paid by them. Until Medicare raised their rates, the amount taken from my Social Security allotment was more than required so every quarter, I would receive a refund from Medicare. For the last quarter of 2023 Medicare sent me the normal overpayment but it turns out that with their increased fees they had reimbursed me for $22 too much, and I was asked to submit a payment in that amount back to them. I didn’t understand what was going on, and I’m pretty sure you are just as puzzled as I was just reading this.
After receiving another bill (or two) for the $22, which I still didn’t fully understand, I more or less forgot about it. Fast forward to the present and to my pending surgery. In their making arrangements with all of the healthcare involved parties, the Arnot Ogden Coordinator who was making the surgical appointments and scheduling, was advised that my Healthcare Insurance had been suspended effective Jan. 1st of this year.
I had a problem. No Insurance! I am obligated to pay the hospital, out of pocket. You can probably guess the “order of magnitude” that a surgical procedure involving your neck and spine could cost and so I was in a quandary.
Backing up several years to provide some deep background on my “negotiating history,” during my latter years of employment at The Air Preheater Company (APCo) my position was that of Contract Administrator (CA). The role of the CA is to act as the liaison between APCo and the customer. Paramount to these duties of the CA was to understand, negotiate or facilitate all the contract requirements, legal and financial, including the Terms and Conditions, which define the legal requirements of the order. This involves such things as schedules, equipment included, and requirements and services provided by APCo etc. Often the Terms and Conditions of the customer didn’t match up with those of APCo. The differences needed to be negotiated to reach agreement. When dealing with a large corporation like Shell Oil Co. Negotiating agreements with those large companies was often very contentious and stressful. I thrived in that environment, and did well, but for a number of reasons I hated that job.
I did, however, learn how to negotiate.
Veering back on track, in order to proceed with the scheduling of my pending surgery I had to negotiate my way back into having my Healthcare Insurance reinstated. To do so, I had to work through The New York State Department of Civil Service which administers the Medicare process. It was negotiated that if I would make a payment of the amount that I was overpaid, then my Healthcare Insurance would be retroactively reinstated. I obtained a cashier’s check, photocopied it to send to the Civil Service Department and put the check in the mail. Two hours or so later I received a phone call from the Coordinator at Arnot Ogden who advised that she had re-checked and my Health Insurance had been reactivated and we were cleared to proceed. She proceeded to tell me that she wanted me to “be her friend” as she had never seen anyone that was able to get the NY Department of Civil Service to move so fast and be so accommodating.
OK! Enough of the serious stuff for now. I do have a pending topic, perhaps for next weeks Wrambling, and if I follow through with it, the topic will turn serious again, but for now I will Wramble Woefully Wrecklessly.
I am known to be, and have given examples of my frugality (being cheap) before. Some examples are re-using paper plates. Doesn’t matter what size, from the smallest to the largest, If I can re-use them by cleaning them off by a paper towel without any “too obvious” residue I can use the same paper plate two or three times. Same goes for paper towels. I will use a single sheet off the paper towel roll several times over if it’s just to be used to clean my paper plates, or wipe the dab of melted chocolate from my handling of the Almond Joy Mini bar off my fingers.
Have you ever gone into a Doctor’s office or for a Hospital procedure and drawn a blank when they ask you what medications you are currently taking? Me too! Since having my first major surgery known as Vagotomy With Pyloroplasty in the early 70’s, even before my stressful CA days, I have had surgery on nearly every component of my body, literally from head (counting my neck as of next week) to my toes with the straightening of my “drifting toes.”
Given the inheritance of arthritis from my mother and my near 8 decades of walking this earth I have accumulated several prescriptive and elective medicines. I cannot recite them (or the surgeries) and so to provide that information to the medical professionals I have an extensive list all prepared. The pre-op nurses or aides nearly always comment on how complete my history listing is and thank me for being so organized by having it prepared for them. Experience is the best teacher.
Given my preparations for the medical interventions coming soon, I have had to curtail my singing with the Genesee Valley Chorus in their preparation and performance of several Lenten Season choral performances. I received a nice “We miss you and wish you well card” from one of the members. In my absence from this “blended chorus of singers” I realized how much I appreciated being a part of this “musical family.” They, (We) aren’t just a group of people but are joined as family “in song” and in the preparation and presentation of the music that entertains so many, both annually and on a seasonal or “special occasional” basis. I may put out an addendum or announcement article separately announcing some other near term future Concerts. The next concerts on the agenda are two Lenten concerts to be performed by the Genesee Valley Chorus over the next couple of weeks, and the details for each are:
| 🎶🎶🎶🎶 March 17, 2024 at 6:30 pm First Presbyterian Church 43 East Greenwood Street Andover, NY | 🎶🎶🎶🎶 March 24, 2024 at 3:00 pm United Methodist Church 4005 Main Street Scio, NY |
Fridays are often much anticipated days for some, either just as the last work day for the weekend or even a day of vacation to extend a planned weekend outing of some sort. This Friday is, or at least was, significant in that it represents The Ides of March. Most recently, at least in the History books I learned from, the day is now popularly known only as the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated. Ides is a Latin term meaning “to divide.” Historically, and even biblically, it actually got its start well before that. According to Wikipedia “The Romans did not number each day of a month from the first to the last day. Instead, they counted back from three fixed points of the month: the Nones (the 5th or 7th, 8 days before the Ides), the Ides (the 13th for most months, but the 15th in March, May, July, and October), and the Kalends (1st of the following month). Originally the Ides were supposed to be determined by the full moon, reflecting the lunar origin of the Roman calendar. In the earliest calendar, the Ides of March would have been the first full moon of the new year. In any event the 15th of March now known as the Ides of March are admonished by the phrase “Beware the Ides of March”
Ironically “Pi(e) Day” March 14 or 3/14/24 is the day before the Ides of March day of 3/15/24. Too much Pi might bestow the Ides of March upon you. Succinctly, pi—which is written as the Greek letter for p, or π—is the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle. Regardless of the circle’s size, this ratio will always equal pi. In decimal form, the value of pi is approximately 3.14. Dessert, or Math nerds, you can thank me later.
As always, I invite you to reach out to me at IM.Wiserdad@gmail.com with any comments, questions, cares or concerns, or if you would like me to write about, or research, anything that you too are, or have been, curious about. I will share it with others, as I share my words. Beneath the Wrambling’s title above is, why I write and why I am blessed to be able to do so in the SUN.
